*

In the evening I went to see Mr. Edwin Booth and Madame Modjeska in
"Hamlet." By far the two greatest tragedians of America in Shakespeare's
greatest tragedy. I expected great things. I had seen Mounet-Sully in
the part, Henry Irving, Wilson Barrett; and I remembered the witty
French _quatrain_, published on the occasion of Mounet-Sully attempting
the part:

Sans Fechter ni Riviere
Le cas etait hasardeux;
Jamais, non jamais sur terre,
On n'a fait d'Hamlet sans eux.

I had seen Mr. Booth three times before. As _Brutus_, I thought he was
excellent. As _Richelieu_ he was certainly magnificent; as _Iago_
ideally superb.

His _Hamlet_ was a revelation to me. After seeing the raving _Hamlet_ of
Mounet-Sully, the somber _Hamlet_ of Irving, and the dreamy _Hamlet_ of
Wilson Barrett, I saw this evening _Hamlet_ the philosopher, the
rhetorician.

Mr. Booth is too old to play _Hamlet_ as he does, that is to say,
without any attempt at making-up. He puts on a black wig, and that is
all, absolutely all. It is, however, a most remarkable, subtle piece of
acting in his hands.

Madame Modjeska was beautiful as _Ophelia_. No _tragedienne_ that I have
ever seen weeps more naturally. In all sad situations she makes the
chords of one's heart vibrate, and that without any trick or artifice,
but simply by the modulations of her singularly sympathetic voice and
such like natural means.

It is very seldom that you can see in America, outside of New York, more
than one very good actor or actress playing together. So you may imagine
the success of such a combination as Booth-Modjeska.

Every night the theater is packed from floor to ceiling, although the
prices of admission are doubled.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVIII.

ST. JOHNSBURY--THE STATE OF MAINE--NEW ENGLAND SELF-CONTROL--COLD
CLIMATES AND FRIGID AUDIENCES--WHERE IS THE AUDIENCE?--ALL DRUNK!--A
REMINISCENCE OF A SCOTCH AUDIENCE ON A SATURDAY NIGHT.

_St. Johnsbury (Vt.), January 28._

ST. Johnsbury is a charming little town perched on the top of a
mountain, from which a lovely scene of hills and woods can be enjoyed.
The whole country is covered with snow, and as I looked at it in the
evening by the electric light, the effect was very beautiful. The town
has only six thousand inhabitants, eleven hundred of whom came to hear
my lecture to-night. Which is the European town of six thousand
inhabitants that would supply an audience of eleven